Thanks a million for your awesome reviews, seriously, you guys are the best!
And I apologize for leaving you with such a major cliffhanger, but I guess that's what keeps the suspense, doesn't it? ;)
So this is the penultimate chapter today, revealing the future.
I hope you're gonna review again so I'll get over a hundred reviews! That would be great:)
But enough rambling for today, here's chapter 15!
Steffi
Forever GoneThe moment Seth saw the flames lashing through the windows of the beach house, and the moment he heard Summer's cries, he lost his patience and started to run into the house.
Ryan reacted immediately and chased after Seth, trying to stop him. When he reached Seth, Ryan took hold of his shoulders and blocked his way.
"Don't go in there, it's suicide!" he shouted, trying to drown out the noise of the shattering windows and the sirens of the police and fire rescue cars that surrounded them.
Seth twisted in Ryan's grip, trying to break free. He felt tears coming up inside of him, the adrenaline pouring through his veins.
"Let go of me!" he screamed, still twisting and turning in Ryan's grip.
"You're not gonna survive this!" Ryan yelled.
Finally, Seth managed to break free of Ryan's grip and stared at him intensively. His breathing became heavier every second, his heart pounding heavily against his chest.
"So is Summer if nobody acts! So if you're my brother, you come and HELP ME!"
Seth didn't care what Ryan or anybody else thought, he just started to run towards the house again, trying to save the one and only love of his life.
Ryan stared after Seth for what seemed like an age, but broke into a run towards the house just a few seconds after Seth had.
So did the police officers who had witnessed the brotherly fight.
When they were inside, Seth pulled his sports vest over his mouth to shut away some of the smoke that was in the house.
Flames were all around him and he didn't know where to start searching first. And he knew that time was running out.
Followed by Ryan and two police officers, Seth made his way through the fire to the second floor where Eric's and Summer's voices had been coming from.
The heat was almost unbearable, and so was the smoke that blocked almost all of Seth's eyesight. He coughed and his eyes started to fill with tears, this time not because he was afraid of losing Summer, but because the smoke and the heat burnt so heavily.
But still the fear of losing Summer somehow gave him the strength to go on.
It might have been just plain luck regarding the huge amount of rooms that were in the house, but in the first room Seth went, he spotted his Summer, enarmored to the walls, her head slumped down and her hair covering most of her face. Seth ran into the room, knowing that every second now counted.
Summer's body was all sweaty, and her face looked terrible from all the bruises that were to be seen there.
Seth felt new tears coming up, and this time, it were tears of hatred and digust towards Eric.
As fast as he could, Seth tried to untie the laces that surrounded Summer's wrists and that tied her to the wall. But the knots Eric had made were too tight, he couldn't open them with his bare hands.
"Ryan, I need a knife!" Seth shouted, totally terrified. The flames grew thicker and more intensive from second to second, and the smoke kept eroding into his brain, taking away all of the oxygen he had just breathed in.
He felt himself passing out, but when another wave of adrenaline came rushing through his body, he summoned all of the strength he had left.
The two police officers that had followed the boys into the house pushed Seth away and began to cut Summer's ties with their knives.
"Get out of here!" One of them shouted, pushing Seth towards the door.
Ryan pulled at Seth's arm. "Come on!" he screamed.
Seth felt how the world around him slowly faded away. The smoke numbed all of his senses, and he knew he would pass out any second now.
Suddenly, there was a slap on his back head, making his senses coming back again.
Seth spun around to face Eric, who stood in front of him, looking infuriated.
He felt all the hatred and anger that had impounded over the past years inside of him coming out. His hands went to Eric's throat. Eric didn't try to defend himself.
Seth squeezed his hands around Eric's neck as tight as he could.
"You bastard! How could you do this to her? You're gonna pay for this-"
Suddenly, Seth felt another slap on his back head. This time it came from Ryan. His brother's hands clutched his shoulders, trying to pull him away from Eric to avoid the worst.
"Let's get out of here!" Ryan screamed. "This house is gonna break down in a few seconds!"
Realizing what he was about to do, Seth's grip around Eric's neck losened. He wanted Eric to pay for what he had done to Summer, but he was not a murderer. Seth slowly stepped away from Eric, his eyes never leaving those bright blue eyes that had caused so much pain over the past few years.
All of a sudden, with a huge bang, one of the roof's beams came crushing down, separating Seth and Eric from each other.
Seth quickly looked at the place where Summer had been before, and when he saw that she had already been carried out of the house by the two police officers, he stepped back, slowly at first.
Eric gave him the most intensive look anyone could imagine.
Seth's steps fastened, but still his eyes never left Eric's.
Suddenly, Eric broke into a huge smile, and his mouth started to form what would be his last words.
"G O N E".
Terrified, Seth broke into a run, right behind Ryan, and tried to escape the house before it would bury them.
When the two boys were outside, they fell on the floor, both coughing and their lungs burning for some fresh air.
The noises around them had increased, the wood of the house groaning more and more now. Some other beams crushed inside of the house.
Seth breathed as fast as he could to recover his body from all the poisonous smoke he had just breathed in.
His eyes went up to the window where Eric had been standing afore. He could perceive a person in all the smoke and dust.
Eric leant out of the window, still smiling. He stared Seth deep into the eyes, and broke into a laugh.
It was the moment the whole building crashed down, burying Eric underneath it, ending Summer's and Seth's nightmare forever.
Seth sheltered his head with his hands as the house crashed down.
When the sound of burning wood faded out and was replaced by the sound of water that came from the fire rescue's car, Seth looked up again.
He checked on Ryan first, who still lay next to him, breathing steadily to recover from what had happened a few moments before.
Seth saw a crying Marissa running over to them, kneeling down to Ryan, hugging and kissing him like she never wanted to let him go.
Seth stood up and looked for Summer who had to be somewhere in the terrible mess that was in front of the ruin.
He spotted an ambulance where loads of doctors and nurses were hovering over Summer's body.
Seth ran over to the ambulance on shaky legs to see how the doctors fought for Summer's life.
Once again.
Flashbacks of little Baby Cohen's birth came to his mind where the doctors had told him that Summer had almost died because she had lost so much blood.
And now they were fighting for her life again.
Seth felt hot tears coming up inside of him as the doctors ventilated his beautiful wife. He started to shake, all the strain that had been retaining over the past few weeks inside of him coming out.
He didn't dare to say a word, he just stood there, helpless, and watched the scenery that seemed like a nightmare to him.
Seth felt Ryan's arm around his shoulder.
The touch of a loved one make him break down eventually. He burst into tears, burying his head in Ryan's shoulder.
Marissa stood next to the brothers, shaking and crying as well as she prayed for Summer to be fine again.
And then the miracle happened.
Summer coughed and the tension that had been among the doctors seemed to disappear imediately.
"There she is again," one of the nurses said and stroked Summer's head.
Seth broke free from Ryan's embrace and ran over to the pallet Summer was lying on.
Summer directly stared at him, her face forming into a weak smile as she recognized who he was.
Seth took Summer's hand and peppered it with thousands of kisses, tears of relief streaming down his face.
Summer coughed again as she tried to talk.
Seth softly laid a finger over Summer's lips. "Shhh. Don't talk now." He whispered and laid his head on Summer's chest.
He could hear her heartbeat. It was the best sound he had ever heard before.
"I love you." It were only three words, but hearing Summer saying them made Seth feel like the happiest person on earth.
He looked up and straight into her bambi-brown eyes. "I love you too." He replied, tiny tears of joy running down his cheeks. He lifted his head and gave her a long, loving kiss on the lips.
Finally, everything would be good.
Next chapter: Until The End Of Time
PS: Did you really think I would kill off Summer? I could never do that ;) So look forward to a very happy mushy ending! ;)